Scotus · thesis 4.16

Thesis 4.16

Latin

Relatio creaturae ad deum est idem realiter fundamento, distincta formaliter et ex natura rei.

Copy-text: Farmer 1998, line 12361

English

A creature's relation to God is really identical with its ground, yet is formally distinct from it, and distinct from the nature of the thing itself.

Opens a series on relations, resolving the tension between a creature's dependence on God and God's transcendence via a 'formal distinction' (Farmer's note, farmer1998:12399). Sense checked against farmer1998:12422.

Translation: machine-drafted 2026-09-26 by TRANSLATOR-T01b; sense checked against farmer1998:12422; awaiting human check

Attribution: reported according to Scotus (section 4 of the historical theses) · Pico's stance: reports

Discussed in

• Amos Edelheit, A Philosopher at the Crossroads: Giovanni Pico della Mirandola's Encounter with Scholastic Philosophy (2022)

Mention records in the corpus: 3 (deterministic harvest; see Method).

Farmer's cross-references

• 13.1 Relatio nullam rem dicit extra animam.
• 2>62 Dictio exclusiua, addita uni relatiuo, correlatiuum non excludit.
• 3.7 Pluralitas formalitatum stat cum idemtitate reali.
• 5.11 Ratitudo formaliter cuiuslibet creati est respectus.
• 5.12 Ad hoc, ut sit mutuitas realis relationis, requiritur quod fundamentum ex sua natura ordinetur ad aliud, tanquam ad suam perfectionem.
• 5.13 Relatio non distinguitur a fundamento realiter.
• 6.1 Potentia generandi in diuinis nec est essentia diuina precise et absolute sumpta, nec relatio uel proprietas, nec constitutum ex ambobus, ne
• 7.24 Vnum relatiuorum conuenientissime per reliquum definitur.
• 7.39 Essentia cuiuslibet intelligentiae est substantialiter ad aliquid.